I don’t get something. I’m not supporting price-gougers who seek to profit off of a tragedy. I think they’re morally bankrupt, inhuman swine. But…
…how can it be illegal? (Ok, because we passed laws saying it was. What’s the legal principle behind those laws? Is it as simple as “War-profiteers are scum and should be jailed” or is there more to it?)
If I own a convienience store or a gas station, it’s my gas, right? Moral issues aside, shouldn’t I be able to charge what the market will bear (as long as I’m not price-fixing with other gas station owners?)
What if I say “I want to charge $8.00/gallon for gas” and the government says “That’s price gouging.” Can I just say “Screw this, I ain’t selling anything.”, or do I have to sell what I got at the mandated prices?
For that matter, how is price gouging/profiteering defined in the law (I imagine it’s different from state to state, but there’s gotta be a general working definition.
DSYoungEsq? MintyGreen? Jodi? Anyone with a legal background got some insights?
I know it was a major issue after Hurricane Andrew hit Florida. Forget the “price gouging” for truly nonessential items like American flags. Folks there were pricegauging for water, ice, medical supplies, generators, etc. This, when people had no choice but to buy these items to survive.
As for legal ramifications now, and for gasoline… I have no idea.
Weatherman: “…and the five day forecast for Afghanistan is two days.”
Well, I have no legal knowledge whatsoever. However, I’ll take a shot on how what they are doing could possibly be found to be illegal:
In the event of a disaster of some sort, the vendors may for all intents and purposes become a sort of local monopoly, by virtue of the fact that people no longer have free choice to travel elsewhere for goods or services. For example, after a hurricane, gasoline may not be available, roads may not be travelable, and alternative stores may not be available because they were destroyed.
Contrary to popular opinion, the US government doesn’t outright ban all monopolies; utilities (well, except in deregulated areas) have traditionally been regulated monopolies. They aren’t allowed to charge whatever the traffic will bear; their prices are regulated by a utilities commission. So, it seems to me that if circumstances create temporary monopolies within a jurisdiction, there might be some precedent for allowing that jurisdiction to regulate what prices can be charged.
I got to see some of this firsthand in Charlotte, NC. I went home for my 10 year high school reunion the weekend Hurricane Hugo hit the Carolinas. The area was badly hit, and a lot of the necessities like gasoline, milk, bread, etc. were hard to come by. I saw on the news a report of some SOB who drove a bread delivery truck who stopped to make his delivery at a convenience store. He saw that people were clamoring to get the bread he was about to deliver, so instead of delivering it into the store, he stood up on the back of the truck and auctioned it off to the folks standing around waiting for it.
I think they tried to prosecute him on something, but I left town a day or so later, and never did find out how it turned out. I hope he at least lost his job.
The Illinois Attorney General’s office discovered, much to its dismay, that price-gouging isn’t exactly illegal in Illinois. So they’ve filed a “violation of consumer protection laws” lawsuit against the Casey General Store gas gougers in Peoria and other places.
And AG Jim Ryan (who incidentally is running for governor) promises that just as soon as he gets a minute, he’ll change the law. Really.
